Combination sand-pump and bailer.



C. F. RIGBY.

COMBINATION SAND PUMP AND BAILER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17, IBM.

Patented Oct. 26, 1f 5.

INVENTOH 7? it lif CLARK F. RIGBY, 0F BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMBINATION SAND-PUMP AND BAILER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @ct. 26, 1915.

Application filed April 17, 1914. Serial No. 832,480.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, CLARK F. RIGBY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Butler, in the county of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination Sand-Pumps and Bailers, of which the following is a specification.

The cylinder of a deep well sand puml is usually from twenty to twenty-five feet in length and includes a piston element having a filling stroke of corresponding length. A valve is necessary for closing the inlet when elevating the filled cylinder, and means must be provided for closing the valve, also for opening it after the pump has been removed from the well in order to discharge its contents. Manipulation of the cylinder is cumbersome due to its length, and the conditions attending the operation of the valve present problems that are not readily overcome. Some of the valve mechanisms heretofore proposed include adjustable parts of complex construction which are not reliable in operation due to the rough usage and severe strains to which they are subjected.

The sand pump of the present invention is designed to overcome these difiiculties by providing a sectional telescoping pump and bailer cylinder which when collapsed, as when being lowered in a well, is only about half the length of the cylinder now generally used, and hence maybe more readily and conveniently manipulated, not only at the well but when being transported. A. check valve at the.bottom of the upper cylinder section permits the latter to fill with water as the collapsed or contracted cylinder is being lowered in a well, and expansion of the cylinder, as when raising it, operates to charge or fill the lower section with sand, drillings, etc., in solution, the upper cylinder section operating as a piston.

A further and important feature is the simple and highly efiicient bottom inlet valve which operates in conjunction with the telescoping cylinder. The valve is adapted to be closed when the cylinder is fully expanded and cooperates with its actuating rod in forming a tie for uniting the expanded sections, whereby, when the pump has been filled, the inlet is closed and the sections are securely united for the removing operation. After the pump has been removed from the well, with its lower end resting on the derrick floor or other support where it is desired to empty the pump contents, it is only necessary to slacken the hold of the elevating means when the weight of sand, etc., will open the valve and permit the same to discharge. Thereafter, the water confining valve for the upper cylinder section is automatically opened and the released water discharges through the bottom valve of the lower section.

A further purpose is to provide improved means for releasably securing the cylinder sections in collapsed position.

lln the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a portion of the length of the improved pump with the parts in collapsed position, as when being lowered n a well. Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly in elevation, showing the position of the parts when the bottom valve is closed, as

when the pump has been filled and is being removed from the well. Fig. 3 is a view-in top plan of the pump. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan taken on line 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view of the upper portion of the pump showing the same supported at the top of the well for collapsing the cylinder sections. 1

Referring to the drawings, the pump and bailer cylinder consist of the outer tubular section 2 and the inner telescoping section 3, the latter provided at its upper end with the usual bail-like loop 4 to which the operating sand line, not shown, is connected.

Secured in the lower end of section 3 is head 5 formed with ports 6, the latter being adapted to be closed by the downwardly seating check valve 7.

The tubular stem 7 of this valve extends downwardly through head 5 and carries stop 7 for limiting the opening movement of the valve.

Secured'to and forming a downward continuation of outer section 2 is the collar-like fitting 8 which is contracted internally to form valve ,seat 8.

Connected to fitting 8 is a tubular downwardly extending foot-piece 9, which is formed with the sand and fluid inlet slots 10 and at its lower edge with the upward incisions l1.

Adapted to close upwardly on seat 8 is the upwardly taperingplug-like valve head 12 which when lowered and open, as in Fig. 1, is adapted to rest on shoulders 13 formed on the interior of foot-piece 9 and preferably above the lower ends of slots 10, whereby fluid, sand, etc., may enter through the bottom incisions 11 and pass upwardly through slots 10 around the open valve. The inlet thus provided in addition to the upper portions of slots 10 afford ample filling clearance for thepump cylinder.

The valve is operated by the-elongated rod 1 1 which is secured at its lower end-to the valve head and extends upwardly through the tubular valve stem 7, and at its upper extremity is formed with head 15. A cushioning spring 16 is preferably arranged on the rod above and resting on valve 7. The length of rod 14 is approximately the same as the length of the pumping stroke of the valved piston forming head 5, so that when the inner cylinder section 3 is raised to nearly the end of its upward cylinder-charging stroke, spring 16 engages rod head 15 and cushions the connection, and the resulting upward movement of rod 14 raises and closes valve 12, as in Fig. 2. When thus raised, the rod and valve constitute a longitudinal tie for the cylinder parts and serve to carry the weight of the lower cylinder section 2 and its bottom attachments whenthe filled pump is being withdrawn from the well. Obviously, the upward pull on valve 12 during the Withdrawing operation holds it seated and the escapeof sand and fluid is rendered impossible.

' The inner cylinder section 3 constitutes a water bailer in addition to servingas a piston for the sand pump. When lowering the pump, valve 7 opens, as in dotted lines in Fig. 1, as soon as the water is reached, and usually the water depth is suflicient to fill cylinder section 3 before foot-piece 9 reaches the bottom of the well. Valve 7 then closes and entraps and retains the water during the upward stroke of section 3 which fills cylinder section 2 with the solution of sand, drillings, etc.

The sectional cylinder is preferably fully collapsed when being transported from place to place, also when being lowered in a Well, and for maintaining the parts in collapsed position a spring arm 17 is operative in a slot 18 in. the upper portion of cylinder section 2, with the upper hook-like end 19 of the arm adapted to engage the upper extremity of the inner section 3 when fully lowered. Spring arm 18 when free is normally in the outwardly deflected position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the arm springing to that position when foot-piece 9 rests on the well bottom and stops the downward movement of the outer cylinder section 2, the ensuing slight independent downward movement of section 3, indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, permitting the latch arm to be thus released. The released inner section 3 may then be elevated, and the suction created by the upward stroke of the valveclosed head 5 accelerates the inflow of sand, water, etc., so that by thetime section 3 is fully raised and valve 12 closed the cylinder section 2 has been filled, either wholly or partially, depending on the amount of water and sand in the well. With the pump withdrawn and its lower end resting on the derrick floor or other support, it is only necessaryto slacken the hold on section 3, when valve 12 will open and permit the sand, water, etc., to discharge from section 2. And with section 3 fully lowered, as in Fig. 1, stem 7 of valve 7 engages and is raised by valve 12, thereby opening valve 7 and releasing and discharging the water confined thereabove in section 3.

For collapsing the pump cylinder, as when entering it in a well, the outer section 2 may be supported in suspended position at the well mouth by a prop 20, Fig. 5, which engages a slot 21 near the upper'end of section 2, thereby supporting the outer section and permitting the inner section '3 to be lowered therein sufficiently to enable the operator to press inwardly the spring arm 18 over the upper extremity of section 3, and thereupon slight upward movement of the inner section results in hooking the spring arm thereover, uniting the parts in the collapsed position shown in Fig. 1, and upon removal of prop 20 the collapsed cylinder may be lowered in the well.

I claim 1. In a sand pump, the combination of telescoping cylinders adapted to removably enter a well, the lowermost cylinder having a fluid inlet, a valve 'for the inlet, the lower end of the upper cylinder constituting a piston for the lower cylinder, an upwardly opening valve controlling the passage of fluid into the upper cylinder, and an operative connection between the upper cylinder section and the valve for the lower cylinder inlet for closing said valve when the upper cylinder is in elevated position.

2. The combination of telescoping pumpcylinder forming sections, the lower section having an inlet and the upper section constituting a piston, a valve for the inlet, valve actuating means, the lower end of the pistonforming section having a fluid inlet and a valve for said inlet.

3. The combination of telescoping pumpcylinder forming sections, the lower section having an inlet and the upper section constituting a piston, a valve for the inlet, valve actuating means, a ported head closing the lower end of the upper section, an upwardly opening valve closing the ported head and nieaaea at for the inlet, a headed rod extending up wardly from the valve, a ported piston head carried by the upper cylinder section with said rod extending upwardly through the piston head and with the latter adapted to engage the rod head and seat the valve when the sectional cylinder is expanded, and an upwardly opening valve for the piston head.

5. The combination of telescoping pumpcylinder forming sections, the lower section having an inlet, an upwardly closing valve for the inlet, a headed rod-extending upwardly from the valve, a ported piston head carried by the upper cylinder section, an upwardly opening check valve for said head, a

tubular stem depending from the check valve through the head with the headed rod extending upwardly through the valve stem and with the stem adapted to be engaged by the said upwardly seating valve for opening the check valve, the valved piston head adapted to engage the rod head and seat the upwardly closing valve when the sectional cylinder is expanded.

6. A sand pump comprising telescoping pump-cylinder forming sections with the lower section provided with a fluid inlet,

latch, means for connecting the sections when the cylinder is contracted, means for sustaining the outer section suspended within a well while lowering the inner section into position for the latch means to connect the sections, a piston head carried by the upper section, and valve means actuated by the upward movement of the inner section for closing said fluid inlet when the sectional cylinder is expanded.

7. The combination of telescoping pumpcylinder forming sections with the inner section constituting a piston, the lower end of the piston ported and an upwardly opening valve therefor, the lower end of the outer section having an inlet and an upwardly closing valve for said inlet, means actuated by the upward movement of the inner cy1- inder section for closing said outer-section valve, and latch means for holding the cylinder sectionscollapsed with sand means adapted to be released by manipulating the pump after it has reached the bottom of the well.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLARK 1F. RIGBY.

Witnesses:

J. M. Nnsnir, F. E. GAITHER. 

